Shadow kissed
by vox ad umbram sum
Summary: Starts in Shadow Kiss, Dimitri was not taken Rose was. She was turned but her being shadow-kissed changes things. How? Read to find out. R&R Up for adoption
1. Chapter 1

**I am going to assume that all readers have read the Vampire Academy series if you haven't why are you here**

**Vampire Academy and all related characters, events, texts etc. are property of Richelle Mead I do not own or claim to own any part of this work of fiction. This disclaimer applies to this and all chapters of this story.**

**This story starts with the rescue attempt in Shadow Kissed**

_We ran to the exit, emerging into the air. My group_

_clustered by the opening, anxious to see what had happened._

_The sun, I was dismayed to see, was nearly gone. The nausea_

_hadn't left me, which meant Strigoi were still alive._

_ Moments later, my mother's party came tearing down the_

_hall. By the numbers, one more had gone down. But they were_

_so close. Everyone around me tensed up. So close. So, so close._

_But not close enough. Three Strigoi lay in wait in one of_

_the alcoves. We'd passed them, but they'd let us go by. It all_

_happened so fast; no one could have reacted in time. One of the_

_Strigoi grabbed Celeste, his mouth and fangs going for her_

_cheek. I heard a strangled scream and saw blood everywhere._

_One of the Strigoi went for Ms. Carmack, but my mother jerked_

_her away and shoved her forward toward us._

_The third Strigoi grabbed Dimitri. In all the time I'd known_

_him, I'd never seen Dimitri falter. He was always faster, always_

_stronger than everyone else. Not this time. This Strigoi had_

_caught him by surprise, and that slight edge was all it had taken._

_I stared. It was the blond Strigoi. The one who had spoken_

_to me in the battle._

I ran towards Dimitri pulling him to me, turning and pushing him towards the exit.

"Run Dimitri" I told him. "Protect Lissa."

Then the Strigoi pouced on me, the blonde one sinking his fangs into my neck.

"I love you" was all I managed to get out before the endorphins carried me away.

I felt cold hands lift my body and carry me but I didn't care everything was good, I felt good and there was nothing wrong in the world.

The world came in to focus after what seemed like an eternity later. I had been tied to a chair, my stake was gone, I was sore all over, and the room was shrouded in shadows hiding most of the room.

Things were not looking good for me. They didn't get better.

The blonde Strigoi walked into my field of vision.

"So you're the famous Rosemarie Hathaway, the novice that has everyone talking," he sneered. "Well soon you won't be killing Strigoi with other Guardians. No, instead you'll be killing Guardians with other Strigoi."

The Strigoi laughed and I felt sick to my stomach, they were planning on turning me into a Strigoi.

The Strigoi continued "Well, Rosemarie my name is Nathan and you are going to help us kill the last of the Dragomirs."

I never hated anyone more in my life.

"I would rather die than help you kill Lissa!"

"Well it's a good thing that isn't one of the options."

With that comment Nathan leaned forward and bit me. I screamed as my blood left my body and I fell silent as the world went black.

I could feel the Strigoi toxic blood flow through my veins changing everything it touched I felt the Shadows that surrounded my soul join in forcing the changes to grow in intensity. My whole body felt as if it was consumed in flames. I felt the dark flames try to push my soul out but something held it in. I felt the dark flames try to sever the bond between me and lissa but the bond would not break.

Eventually the pain subsided until I could no longer feel it. I felt normal again, nothing hurt.

I was struck by just how much more noise I heard, I could hear heartbeats and instantly knew where each one came from. I could hear termites eating away at the floor boards I could even hear the wind rushing over the wings of an owl as it flew over the building I was in.

Smells came through sharper and almost overwhelmed me. I could smell the lingering odor of Nathan's breath hanging in the air. I could smell the mouse that hid in the floors. I could smell the exhaust from cars that had long since passed by.

I opened my eyes. The once shadowy room now appeared to be filled with light. The whole world had been brought into focus and now every minute detail that I would have missed as a dhampir was now obvious to me

As a wave of sadness crashed into me I closed my eyes and dove into Lissa's mind without thought working purely off of reflex. Then the shock of what I had done pulled me back into my head. The bond was still there. Looking back through Lissa's I watched in a morbid fascination as Kirova read off a list of names lost to the Strigoi attack that Lissa's memories told me happened a week ago. Then Kirova announced,

"Rosemarie Hathaway"

She continued on after a brief pause just as she had every name before. Lissa started crying and she looked around at the crowd during the pause. It was amazing to see at amount of people hurting at my loss. My mother was trying so hard to keep her composure but was failing as tears rolled down her cheeks. Eddie was in shock, first Mason, now me. And – Oh God – Dimitri, he was sitting right next to Lissa holding his Guardian mask over his face but his eyes revealed the deep sorrow he was in.

Unable to watch further I pulled out of Lissa's head. Again noticing the increase in senses as I returned to my body, a body which was tied to a chair. I decided then to see just how strong I had become. With a flex of my muscles the ropes tore away and the chair broke apart. I straightened up and started for a metal door. The door swung open before I reached it, and in walked Nathan. I felt a surge of hatred towards him. He made me into this monster and I was going to kill him for it.  
With a grin he said "Welcome to your life as a Strigoi Rosemarie you will enjoy it."

"No, I won't but I would enjoy this." I reached out, moving faster than I ever have, and grabbed his head and twisted it. With a sickening crack his neck broke. Then I swiftly twisted his head the other way and pulled up tearing his head from his shoulders and his body fell to the ground and I dropped his head. Blood started to pool and I realized just how thirsty I was. I bent down and grabbed the body sinking my new fangs into it. I proceeded to suck the body dry.

Sated I walked away, through the empty building until I walked outside into the night air. Looked around and saw that I was in one of the suburbs of Missula. I started to walk I don't know where to but I just needed to get moving to help clear my thoughts. I examined myself. I am a Strigoi. I thirst for blood. But I feel the same as I did. I still have the bond with Lissa. I still have a soul.

I made a decision for my new life I would not harm innocents I would feed from Strigoi and I would still protect Lissa the best I could.

I may not be a dhampir but I will still be a Guardian.


	2. Chapter 2

I had been a Strigoi for almost a month now. That's thirty days of being a monster. Four weeks spent lusting for the blood of everyone around me. The only thing keeping me going was the fact that by being a Strigoi and using the power it gave me to hunt other Strigoi, I was protecting Lissa and Dimitri.

Dimitri, I missed him with all my heart and I knew that he was probably blaming himself for my death, for his inability to protect me. It was all I could do to not run as fast as my Strigoi legs could carry me and return to him. I knew that I would be a monster to him no matter how much I had remained the same, hell, I was a monster to me too. Just yesterday I had caught myself fantasizing about drinking from a girl who had walked by me on a busy street.

The hunt for Strigoi I had placed myself on had been a bust. I had been stalking through clubs and bars trying to spot a Strigoi looking for a victim. I found nothing, not one Strigoi in one of the most attacked areas in the world. The proximity to an academy meant that Moroi traveled through Missula more frequently than almost anywhere else.

It was frustrating I had been taught to act as if Strigoi were around every corner just waiting for a Moroi to come close. Yeah right. That turned out to be just a load of bullshit. I had goned a month in a "high risk area" without a sighting, and I was looking for them, hunting for them, and not one could be found.

Just my freaking luck.

I was at a club. Again. It pissed me off that I hadn't seen anything other than drunk college kids for a month. In this club the beat was far too loud for my newly enhanced hearing and the flashing lights just gave me a headache.

After the eighteenth shot that's alcohol content refused to get me the slightest bit drunk, I decided to call it quits. And besides the blood rushing through the crowd of people was rapidly becoming irresistible. So I made a rapid retreat to the exit.

Outside was even worse. A fight had broken out and a bloody nose forced me to sprint down an alleyway a block down from the club. To avoid any temptation to run back and drain the first warm bodied person I could find I had pinched my nose tightly and shut my eyes.

Then I ran into something. A cold mass that gave slightly when I ran into it. I opened my eyes, there were four Strigoi surrounding a human girl. The cold mass I had hit was the back of a Strigoi who had obviously been human, a very fat human.

They turned towards me thinking I was dessert. But when they realized I was Strigoi too they smiled a welcoming but still cold and evil smile. One of them a female with short brown hair spoke.

"Looky here. It seems we aren't the only vampires in the area." _Vampires?_ "Wanna little taste?"

It was obvious that they were fairly new Strigoi and that they were humans once but vampires did they seriously not know anything about what they were? Anyway my arrival caused the girl who had been passed out on the sidewalk to be temporarily forgotten.

A stocky male held out his hand palm up in a dramatic gesture that reminded me of Darth Vader. "yes, sister of the night join our coven. Help us establish control over the city." Well apparently not. These idiots probably believed in the whole death by holy water scam too. This was going to be kinda fun.

I looked over the pitiful crew before me, a fat male, a small female, a stick thin male and a short and stocky male all gathered about ten feet in front of me, easy.

I crouched, bending my knees only slightly. Then with a speed that seemed far too fast for a new Strigoi like myself, I lunged at the "coven." I hit the fat male first grabbing his head and twisting it as I pulled up. It tore off with a sickening tearing noise. Dropping the head I made a second leap at the thin male kicking him chest with both feet. He flew back and cracked his head against the wall hard enough to leave him out of the fight for a while. I used the force of the kick to change direction. I leapt back and stood straight up with my hands behind my back. The stocky male jumped at me with his arms out stretched. It looked as if he moved in slow motion even though his speed was faster than anything a dhampir could do. I backhanded him. He flew into the wall and bounced off crashing next to the headless corpse.

The female, however, was smarter than the others. She pulled a knife from the waistband of her pants, a large serrated combat knife, and took a martial arts stance that was clearly from a movie. I began to laugh. I had years of training and conditioning in a multitude of martial arts. She watched kung fu movies. I began to walk towards her as I got close she lashed out faster than I expected. Her knife sliced across my cheek cutting a shallow line to appear on my skin, it didn't bleed. I took a step back and touched the cut with my index and middle fingers. The skin moved together and fused back into one smooth piece. Strigoi heal fast but not that fast.

The female used this time to gain a major advantage. She reached down and pulled the human girl, still unconscious, up by her hair and held the knife to her throat.

"Back off or the bitch gets it!" she snarled at me.

Now I was desperate, I had to save that girl. She didn't deserve to die doped up on Strigoi saliva and week from blood loss. No one did.

The desperation I felt triggered the darkness that lurked in the corners of my mind. I could feel them become active trying to make me act like a Strigoi. These shadows were far stronger than those I received from Lissa before, they were almost physical. I could actually feel their presence in my bones and blood.

To regain control of my mind I pushed the shadows out with a mental shove and I felt the shadows being forced out of my head into my torso and out through my hands.

The female Strigoi gasped and dropped the knife and the girl. She stared at me in horror, her eyes wide and her mouth dropped. I looked down at myself to see what had happened to make her so scared.

My hands were on fire. MY HANDS WERE ON FIRE! They were covered in black flames that seemed to grow and shrink at random. I focused and imagined them growing larger. They did the flames responded to me. Awesome. Freaky scary and completely messed up but it is badass.

I pointed at the female and imagined her bursting into fire. The fire from my hands flew towards her and smacked her in the chest. The flames spread across her chest and over her entire body. Within seconds she was nothing but ashes.

I moved on to her rest of the Strigoi, draining them of any blood they had before lighting them on fire. I needed to get as much blood as I could the more I got the less the people around me were in danger. I moved back to the girl. She was hurt but not badly, she would live but medical help would help.

I picked her up and ran her to a hospital. After compelling the doctor to fix her up with no questions asked and making sure that this would not be reported to any authorities I left. I needed to move on and get away from the area.

Mabye being a shadow kissed Strigoi wasn't a bad as I expected.

**Sorry about the slow update. Life had to be lived and it took me away from this story for a while but I am back. **

** -vox ad umbram sum **


	3. Chapter 3

**13 reviews so far 541 hits to date I love you guys.**

The fight in the alley gave me a pretty clear message. I was an unusual Strigoi. Somehow I am stronger and faster than a Strigoi of my age would be, I have retained my soul and myself, and impossibly I seem to have magic powers. The powers seemed to be linked to the darkness I get through the bond with Lissa and appear to be the inverse of her healing and mostly mental abilities. These shadows are mainly physical changing the body not enhancing the mind like Spirit.

After running to the field outside of the city, I started to practice with the shadows. I started by trying to do something I never wanted to do before. I searched my mind for any trace of the shadows. Any little indication that the darkness is in my mind. I found nothing. Not a trace of darkness. That was both a disappointment and a relief. I was disappointed that I couldn't try to use the shadows. I was relieved that I could get rid of them, that I will never have to be controlled by them again.

It took me a while to come up with a course of action now that I had no darkness to work with. I felt stupid when I thought to go into Lissa's head to find some darkness there. I got all my darkness from her anyway. Looking through the bond I was given a quick demonstration of the mood of the gang I had left behind.

_I_(Lissa)_ am a mess without Rose. Who is going to be my best-friend, my sister? I need someone to be there with me who could understand everything about me. Christian is helping me along but he is no Rose. It is a struggle to keep going on with my life especially when there was nothing to keep me from falling into my thoughts of Rose like now. I am studying in my room alone and the math textbook did nothing to help occupy my mind. The numbers on the page seem to blur on the page as my eyes fill with tears. A quick tap on the door is followed by Christian opening the door with the key I had given him._

"_Hey Lissa, how are you holding up?"_

"_I'm managing."_

"_Don't lie to me Lissa. Rose was like a sister to you. It's alright for you show how much you miss her."_

"_It's just so hard sometimes. I still wake up expecting her to be there. It's like she's still there, like there is some tiny fragment of my mind that is convinced that she is still out there."_

" _You know as well as I do she's gone. The Guardians sweeping the caves found enough blood on the ground that her survival is not possible. Not as a dhampir."_

"_I know."_

"_Come on. Let's get some food into you."_

_Christian leads me out of the room through the gray corridors to the feeders. Even the blood that once tasted so sweet now is bland. Grabbing yogurt from the lunch line and paying for it quickly I sit down at the table that Rose and I had always sat at. It was a mistake. A wave of misery sweeps over me as I remember Rose sitting next to me telling jokes and laughing. Christian sits next to me we don't talk there is nothing to say._

_The relative silence is broken when Adrian sits down. He is wasted. He has drunk himself past his usual state of inebriation and is now doing his best not to fall over in his seat._

"_Hey," he slurs out. I would have laughed at his condition before but now it's just sad. He lights up a cigarette and takes a long draw. The smoke isn't that of tobacco._

"_Adrian, Rose never liked your constant drug abuse but this is too far. Rose would have kicked your ass for this."_

"_Rose isn't here anymore."_

_A burst of immense anger and hatred for the slime in front of me tears through me. I want to tear his throat out._

_It is gone my anger has been reduced to almost nothing. I'm not calm I'm still angry but it is nowhere near what it was._

"_That shouldn't matter. And if it does her words should have more meaning. Even drunk you should know that."_

_Christian sighs and Adrian just looks down at the table._

"_I know. But it's not easy to imagine a world where Rose doesn't exist. She was a very special person, you know, I even think I was falling for her."_

The conversation didn't hold much interest for me after that. Lissa moved onto the minor gossip that never really interested me. Even though I pretended for Lissa's happiness I couldn't really get into what Camille Conta wore.

I couldn't believe what I had heard. Adrian was falling in love with me. that wasn't good. He had to know that I couldn't return his feelings. I was in love with Dimitri.

Adrian's love life aside I had gotten what I had gone for, the darkness that had sprung up with Lissa's anger. That and a reason to risk all of my loved ones lives and return to them.

The moment I returned to my head I learned something about my new powers. I was standing in an open field as the rising sun sent what I had thought to be fatal rays of light towards me. I didn't feel anything wrong I wasn't burning or feeling tired at all. I was protected from the sun.

The fact that I hadn't lost the sun when I lost everything else was a great comfort to me. For the first time in a while things were looking up for me.

I was starting to suspect after I get more control I might be able to be around people again.

So to help find that control I began to push the darkness around my body, inside and out. Experimenting with the new powers I had, I pushed my imagination to find new things that I could try to accomplish. Maybe this could work.

**Sorry for the fluff chapter I just needed to move the plot a little bit the next one is on the way and contains actual plot. But before that happens let's see if I can get to 20 reviews. Remember reviews make me happy and happy means fast updates.**


	4. Chapter 4

**My last chapter wasn't really good but this one doesn't make up for it but the one after it will.**

My mastery of the darkness wasn't so impressive as I had previously hoped. I wasn't able to fly or heal or shoot lasers from my eyes. It seemed that Lissa's mental and spiritual power left a opposite physical power behind. Instead of the refined healings or dreamwalking I got primal strengths and speed. For the most part I was given a mastery of my own body, only occasionally paired with bursts of a barely controlled energy. These bursts drained me of the shadows that I used to fuel my body.

Now even my perspective on the darkness had changed. It was similar to spirit or any kind of magic in the fact that it could be used for good and bad purposes. But like me it had a really bad reputation.

I had been learning about my new powers for several weeks now, harvesting the darkness produced by Lissa. I found limits to my powers , many, many limits. I didn't suddenly become super powerful. Outside of the draining blasts of extreme power. The rest was minor. I mean being stronger and faster is useful but the ability to manipulate my physical features is only so helpful.

Besides the only way to manipulate the darkness is to allow it to enter my mind, something that could prove disastrous. The powers were not worth hurting innocents no matter how many Strigoi I could kill. But it is hard not to use those powers all the time, to appear normal to go back to the academy under a cloud of shadows that made me look like my old self and never let anyone know the truth. The possibilities called to me. I could be almost anybody I wanted to be. I could get whatever I want, money, power, whatever I want. I just needed to ignore it just like I try to ignore my blood lust. That was trouble.

Practicing in front of a mirror I direct the darkness underneath my skin and into my eyes. My vision suddenly sharpens beyond the incredible Strigoi vision. I now see the tiny pores in my skin the invisible imperfections in the mirror's glass. But that wasn't the important part. My eyes changed back to their normal brown. Or a very close shade of brown.

I directed an amount of the darkness into my mouth. Focusing on my fangs, the teeth began pulling upward into my gums. The action caused just a little pain. But when pain is unexpected an un prepared for it seems to hurt more and it takes up your whole focus. I wasn't prepared for it.

The concentration need to support my illusion was redirected for one millisecond. It was enough for the illusion to completely escape me. My eyes were red again. My fangs were back. I was Strigoi and I looked like it.

I let out the deep breath I was holding, not that I needed oxygen I could hold my breath for half an hour if I wanted and not really be affected.

I punched the mirror and it fractured under my fist the glue that kept it attached to the wall the only thing that held the mirror together. My hand couldn't even give me the satisfaction off bleeding a little.

Drawing in a deep breath again a began again.

And again.

And again.

Change the eyes.

Again.

Shrink the fangs.

Again

Add color to the skin

Again

Hold it

Again

Hold it

Again

Finally.

I had done it. I looked like my old self again. Or so close to it most people couldn't tell the difference.

At least now I didn't look like a monster.

**Shadow kissed**

**Sorry about the short chapter I am just uninspired right now but there is longer more exciting chapter coming if I hit 30 reviews I will update it tomorrow or when I finish typing it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**You better love me for this.**

-**shadow kissed-**

It had been two months since I became Strigoi. Almost nine weeks without those I love. Lissa, my sister, my bondmate, was still in her depression but now it was all her. I had taken every scrap of darkness from her I could find. There wasn't any left in her, for the first time in over two years the bond was clear of shadows.

Dimitri, my soul mate, my lover, and my other half, was in a deep pit of sadness that only I seemed to know about . Lissa merely thought that his melochany guardian mask and his sad eyes were just the usual stone face for him. She could even get glimpses of his aura but never thought anything of the grays and blues that surrounded him.

Even Adrian and Christian were deeply affected. Arian was now even more of a drunk but now he never smoked, Lissa's words it seemed took a hold in his mind (no, not compulsion). Christian seemed to swing back and forth from losing his pyromania to taking it to an extreme. Some days unable to make a single flame and others igniting at any little reason.

I was missed, but going back to cheer them up was not an option. I could not risk their safety no matter how sad they were. I was protecting them by staying away. If I was around them I might lose my control and attack. With my extra powers I would do huge amounts of damage before being killed, if I was killed at all. I'm not really bragging when I say that I am one of the most deadly things you could ever meet. If my bloodlust was hard to deal with when I was around humans I could only imagine what it would be like if I was around Moroi, the preferred diet of Strigoi. Plus what's to say they won't kill me straight up.

But the gang seemed to come to me.

**Shadow kissed**

I was wandering around the mall in Missula. A mall that somehow ha every store that I could ever want to shop in. No matter how random it was.

I was trying out my disguise formed by the darkness, listening for the screams that would ensue if anyone caught a glimpse of my true undead appearance. I looked like I did as a dhampir. I was having a good time in spite of my fear that someone would see me for what I am.

I had just walked past the bridal shop and entered Victoria's Secret, I wasn't going to buy anything, when a wave of shock, fear and hope flooded through the bond. I dove into Lissa's head on the spot.

Only to see her looking at a girl how appeared to be frozen on the spot. This girl that dark brown hair, tan skin and was wearing the same outfit I was. A purple tank top and black skinny jeans.

Oh shit.

I pulled out of Lissa's head and gave a quick look around. She was standing there in the hallway holding a dress bag, her eyes were wide and shock filled her features.

I power walked away. Her guardians hadn't seen me. Guardians. I was forgetting – Dimitri!

Where was he? Was he here? Was he close by?

Those questions were answered when I turned to corner near the jewelry shop that specializes in perfect engagement rings.

I ran straight into his chest. Dimitri's hands automatically grabbed my arms to steady me. The smell of his aftershave washed over me. After so long without him this was almost overwhelming.

If there was a god, she hated me. And yes I said she, no guy is that vindictive.

Dimitri was looking at me, his face pale as, well, a Strigoi.

"_Roza_?"

-Thud -

Christian Ozera, who until then had been standing next to Dimitri, frozen and unnoticed, had just passed out and was lying on the ground thoroughly unconscious from either shock or his head hitting the hard marble floor.

Shit.

I was panicking at that point. I had no idea about what to do. If I stayed then I put them at risk. If I ran they would try and find me forcing me to live as a runaway again. I didn't like it the first time I doubted I would find it enjoyable the second time. If I fought they would hate me for what I became.

I ran. I couldn't stay and I couldn't fight. So I ran. I broke free of Dimitri's grip, my heart breaking as I did so, and I ran slowly at first then as fast as the darkness would let me move. Blurring by the shoppers, by the shops and out into the parking lot, I ran as fast as I could.

Now Strigoi are fast and strong. Faster and stronger than any dhampir or anybody else but they are not super-comic-book-style-lightning-fast. They are like an Olympic runner compared to a middle aged smoker. And the trained dhampir is the middle aged smoker. But, I outclass all of them, by a long shot.

I made it to the parking lot in twenty seconds. That's pretty good if you have over five-hundred feet to sprint. You try sprinting for twenty seconds and you see how far you get.

I slowed down as my feet hit the blacktop. I was in the loading bay area, where the trucks came and dropped off merchandise. By now tears were running down my face.

You have to understand I needed to do this. I was convinced that if I was around the Moroi, I would lose my control and go on a killing spree. I had seen Strigoi lose all semblance of tactics at the first hint of Moroi blood. I thought I would do the same.

I had to protect them, even if it meant removing me from the equation.

Then the stench of old blood hit my nose. It could mean one of two things. One a worker had spilled blood a long time ago and it had never been cleaned up.

Or. Strigoi.

I was bad, they were worse.

The only thing I saw was the doorway swing shut. Tracking them on smell alone, I identified at least six. Six Strigoi, any group of guardians no matter the size would take heavy losses from that many. The small group assigned to Lissa, Christian and any other Moroi there would get slaughtered along with the Moroi. I flicked through Lissa's head, finding she only had three guardians on the trip, two for her and one for Christian.

The needed me.

If I was going to be outed like this it would be in style. Charging back into the mall, feeling like a bloodhound on the trail, I pushed the darkness into every square inch of my body. I began to run faster, see better, react quicker, and overall function better. I was a killing machine now.

I watched as the seven Strigoi ran through the hallways only to stop in front of the group. The Guardians stepped in front of the two Moroi, Dimitri pushing Lissa behind him as he pulled his stake from the concealed sheath in his duster. I was twenty feet away.

The Strigoi positioned and made threats. Ten feet

The guardians sank into various ready stances. Five feet.

The Strigoi stepped forward towards the group. Then they turned, fear clear in their eyes. I was upon them.

A instantaneous glance through Lissa revealed I looked rather … impressive at the moment. My eyes were solid black marbles without whites or irises. My fangs were bared in a hungry smile. Shadows moved across my skin like living tattoos, forming shapes, symbols, and indistinct images as the flowed around my skin. I had to say I made the right decision on what to wear the tank top really showing off my shadow tattoos and the purple really worked well. The large amount of cleavage made me look like sexy in a Goddess- of-death-come-to-reap-you kind of way.

The Strigoi were the first to recover, they leapt at me in what used to be a blur of speed. I grabbed one's shoulder and tossed him into a second. Reaching out and grabing the third's neck was child's play. I brought his neck up to my mouth. Looking at the six other Strigoi, frozen in fear and the three Guardians, standing helpless in shock, I flashed a man-eater smirk at everyone.

Then I bit down into the thrashing Strigoi's neck, his blood washing down my throat. Unfortunately this Strigoi had been turned a long time ago, his blood was old and stale, only hints of his last meal remained. It was disgusting but my thirst wouldn't let me stop.

The Strigoi stopped fighting. He quickly passed out and became comatose as the only source of energy for his body was drained from him. Not dead but incapacitated, forever.

Dropping his carcass onto the floor I gave my man-eater smile to the rest of the Strigoi. A half-dozen undead killers took a step back.

Time for some fear "Surrender to the Guardians, they offer quick death, I don't offer death at all."

"you think you can defeat all of us? You are nothing but a bloodwhore and a slut. A coward." The Strigoi are nothing if not foolishly foul-mouthed and full of themselves. I could fix that easily enough.

Siphoning a tiny scrap of darkness into my finger tips, I pointed at them and said,

"Mistake." It was delivered in a childish sing-song voice designed to send chills up and down your spine. A small burst of concentrated onyx fire burst from my index finger and flew towards the speaker. He was struck in the chest and went up in flames. I wasn't paying attention I was trying to stay in control as the darkness pushed for control. I squashed it quickly, but it was enough to make sure that I wouldn't do that again.

Ten pairs of horrified eyes watched as the Strigoi thrashing on the ground was burned alive.

I quickly realized just what I had done. Even if it was a Strigoi.

I pulled a large folding knife from my pocket and quickly began sawing at the Strigoi's neck until his head came off. He was dead.

The rest were scared. It was an odd feeling having the nightmares that haunt the human race be afraid of you and knowing that you have the ability to be so much worse than they. I was a badass and it wasn't a good thing. It wasn't my intention to be a thing of terror.

All it took to snap me out of the self-contempt was a second stupid Strigoi. He was tall and thin, a Moroi before he was turned, by his act a royal turned willingly. He would fall, easy.

He lunged, crossing the space between us in an instant. He was faster than any Strigoi I had ever encountered even Isaiah, ancient Strigoi from Spokane. He was an old one. I was faster still.

As he flew towards me I reached up and grabbed his shirt. I brought him in close. I smelled him, he had feed recently but the decaying blood in his veins was rancid. My hands shifted to his throat.

I bit in to his carotid. The heart pumped the blood out of the vein and down my throat. I didn't even have to swallow. The blood was like an extreme version of RedBull it was nasty to taste but the energy rush that came with it. Indescribable.

It caused me to twitch. My hands tightened on his neck. My arms moved slightly. His head was torn from his shoulders. Opps.

That stopped the feeding.

Understandably the rest of the Strigoi were even more scared. One tried to flee but ran straight into the three Guardians they staked him quickly.

For the rest of the Strigoi their flight or fight response said fight. So they did. Or tried to.

The three remaining vampires charged at me all at once. It was the last mistake of their lives.

They were surprisingly clever. Two actually drew knives, not combat knives of hunting knives but ornate cliché medieval type daggers. I spent the first two seconds of the fight taking the knives from them. That's two seconds they survive in a fight with a shadow kissed turned Strigoi.

I spent ten seconds using both knives to slice one head off and stab the other two in the heart. They weren't dead but it was good enough for me. The fight was over.

Four dead, three incapacitated. I motioned for the Guardians to get the three harmless ones. It took them a second to move but they soon found their masks and moved to end the three Strigoi. The threat was gone.

Dimitri steped towards me

"Roz-se?"

I gave him a small smile, it was all I could do.

I pulled all the shadows back inside me.

I was back to looking like a Strigoi. Pale skin. Red eyes. The whole bit. Dimitri took a step back.

His mouth opened but Lissa was the first to speak.

"Rose?" Lissa questioning whimper broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?" her confusion echoed through the bond. "You stopped them from attacking us."

"Do you honestly believe that me being Strigoi would stop me from protecting you?" Lissa didn't know how to respond. She closed her mouth and I took that as a cue to keep talking. "Hey, Comrade, remember what I said to you in the cave?"

"Yes." His deep brown eyes met mine, his guarded, mine trying to express everything. Even his voice was guarded. My heart felt like it was being constricted by his fear of me.

"Good, I can't protect her from everything. You still have to watch over her… and …um…I still do Dimitri, I meant it then and I still do."

"What do you – I do too Rose."

Lissa picked that moment to butt into our heartfelt conversation. "What the hell are you two talking about?"

She was hurt that I would keep anything from her. And indignation at her best friend overrules fear of Strigoi Rose anger.

"It's nothing you need to know Lissa."

"Tell me Rose, you fucking promised not to keep secrets from me Rose."

"Language Lissa, you are still a princess."

I gave Dimitri one last look. One last look to last for the rest of my immortal life.

I turned and ran. I didn't look back I would have stopped if I looked back. Running away was the hardest thing I had ever done. The world blurred around me I couldn't tell from my speed or my tears.

**-shadow kissed-**

**Here is the big scene where rose meets up with Dimitri and Lissa. Don't worry the separation won't last forever. And to Jasha Maroi I had already considered that but I found I liked this story line better this story line**

**And a big thank you to all who reviewed even the anonymous ones who I wish would get an account so I can tell how many times the reviewed and be properly thankful.**


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note

This story was up for adoption. It has been taken home by a very nice person, **Happymeday**, who will be continuing the story. I hope that all of my readers will follow the story as it changes hands.

Vox Ad Umbram Sum


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